US says NATO lacks consensus on inviting Ukraine

There is still no consensus in NATO on inviting Ukraine to the alliance. Michael Carpenter, special assistant to the US president and director for European affairs at the National Security Council, said this on 18 December.

He expressed confidence that Ukraine would become a member of the alliance, but at the moment it is an open question. He added that it is being actively discussed within the team. According to Carpenter, the decision will depend on US President-elect Donald Trump, not the current administration.

"I think it will now depend on the new administration to determine how to capitalize on the prospect of Ukraine's NATO membership in the coming months, especially if negotiations begin in 2025," he said at a speech at the Atlantic Council, which is based in Washington.

Carpenter also expressed doubt that any agreement would be reached on the issue in 2025. At the same time, he admitted the possibility of starting negotiations.

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Earlier, on 12 December, political scientist and associate professor at the Finance University under the Government of Russia Aleksey Martynov told Izvestiya that the idea of Ukraine joining NATO and the EU was unpromising, noting that the West understands this. At the same time, he noted that Kiev's trustees continue to promote this rhetorical question in order to force the topic of supporting Ukraine.

Before that, on December 10, the deputy head of the Ukrainian president's office, Ihor Zhovkva, said that the country's accession to NATO was "beyond the reach" of the Kiev regime and that it was not a matter of the near future. At the same time, it was reported that Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy (his term expired on May 20) said that it was pointless to discuss NATO membership with US President-elect Donald Trump. In addition, he announced his intention to call the current American leader Joe Biden on this issue. American entrepreneur and billionaire Ilon Musk expressed bewilderment at the words of the Ukrainian head of state.

Ukraine applied to join NATO on an accelerated basis on September 30, 2022. At the time, Zelenskyy said that in fact the country was already in the alliance and met its standards.